No Action Taken On Fpl Plan

Group Seeks To Block Palmetto Power Lines

West Palm Beach — A judge has tabled a citizen group's request for an injunction to block construction of high-voltage power lines near homes on Palmetto Park Road.

Circuit Judge Timothy P. McCarthy heard arguments Thursday from lawyers for Florida Power & Light Co. and Fighting Against Illogical Routes. He ruled that there was no need for an emergency injunction because construction of the controversial line west of Boca Raton had not yet begun and health concerns aren't yet an issue.

At the judge's request, another injunction hearing will be conducted -- possibly after FPL begins erecting the lines, scheduled to start this fall. No date was set.

"It helps our case just the fact that the judge realizes there are issues here," FAIR attorney Barry Silver said. He is representing the group in a lawsuit against the city of Boca Raton, Palm Beach County and the state of Florida. It alleges that the state Department of Environmental Protection failed to block power lines that FAIR says will be a health hazard.

No medical study has proved a link between power lines and cancer, but unexplained cancer clusters around the country and anecdotal evidence have some residents worried.

The DEP has asked that the case be heard in Tallahassee, where its offices are located. FPL asked that the case be dismissed, and county attorneys are planning to do the same.

"We didn't have to talk about it with the public or any officials, but we did," said FPL spokesman Mike Haggerty. "We've done the right thing."

Silver said Thursday's decision would only further bolster opposition to the power line among residents along Palmetto Park Road west of Boca Raton. They have lobbied against the electric line since it was announced in early April.

"The judge felt that it was not an emergency ... but it seems a waste to begin construction on this project and then have to undo it at a later date," Silver said.

County attorneys argued the county has no say in where FPL places its lines and scoffed at the allegation that residents were misrepresented by their elected leaders or that their constitutional rights were violated. FAIR charges in the lawsuit that Jewish families who walk to Sabbath services at the Boca Raton Synagogue near the Montoya Circle community and Catholic families whose children attend programs at Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Palmetto Park Road have been discriminated against.

"That's nonsense," said chief assistant county attorney Drew McMahon. "The judge did absolutely the right thing."

But Boca Raton Synagogue's Rabbi Kenneth Brander said the roughly 200 congregants who live near the proposed route will continue to rouse support from the Jewish community.

"They walk to services and can't live farther away. ... We view the community and the synagogue as one and the same, and whatever we need to do, we'll do it," Brander said.

Tal Abbady can be reached at tabbady@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6624.